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How Can Arthritic Wrist Pain Be Treated?
Question: Any suggestions on how to best treat my ailing, painful arthritic wrists. I currently wear Phiten wrist bands and other wrist support devices. I prefer not to take prescription medications. I work requires a fair amount of keyboard data entry.
Brief Answer:
exercises, compresses, reduce aggravating activity,
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
As you would have realized, NSAIDS are commonly prescribed for arthritic pain but if you are not comfortable with these, that's fine.
By wearing the braces and different support aids you are already doing some form of treatment though it has been shown that overuse of splints of the wrist can cause stiffness and eventual weakness.
Other aspects of treatment of arthritis, in general, involve--(1) if possible reducing activity that would aggravate the injury to and pain in the wrist.
This may be difficult with your job that requires the use of the computer but as much as possible otherwise, reduce aggravating movements.
In some persons, the table or chair may need to be adjusted so that the wrists are not in an awkward position
(2)exercise- simple wrist and hand exercises such as wall crawl, knuckle bend, fists and finger touches may help.
A physiotherapist assessment would help in this area
(3)hot or cold compresses may also be helpful as well
These are the main non-medication treatment options
Hope I have answered your query.
Take care
Regards,
Dr Michelle Gibson James, General & Family Physician
exercises, compresses, reduce aggravating activity,
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
As you would have realized, NSAIDS are commonly prescribed for arthritic pain but if you are not comfortable with these, that's fine.
By wearing the braces and different support aids you are already doing some form of treatment though it has been shown that overuse of splints of the wrist can cause stiffness and eventual weakness.
Other aspects of treatment of arthritis, in general, involve--(1) if possible reducing activity that would aggravate the injury to and pain in the wrist.
This may be difficult with your job that requires the use of the computer but as much as possible otherwise, reduce aggravating movements.
In some persons, the table or chair may need to be adjusted so that the wrists are not in an awkward position
(2)exercise- simple wrist and hand exercises such as wall crawl, knuckle bend, fists and finger touches may help.
A physiotherapist assessment would help in this area
(3)hot or cold compresses may also be helpful as well
These are the main non-medication treatment options
Hope I have answered your query.
Take care
Regards,
Dr Michelle Gibson James, General & Family Physician
Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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